Christmas so far…

All is going according to plan, well apart from the Drawing Room ceiling leaking 10 minutes before lunch was due to be served on Christmas Day. It was only a minor catastrophe and once Ray has had the chance to repair the damage it will be as good as new again. Thankfully this year I did not have any guests fainting on me – as happened a few years ago. If I remember rightly it was one too many Campari and lemonades before lunch (and on an empty stomach) that caused a drama in the Restaurant on Christmas Day 2004. Well the paramedics were very obliging and appreciated the coffee and chocolates before they left – never let it be said that working in a hotel is dull!!

Considering all that could have happened the day was relatively calm and orderly. Boxing Day saw Target golf being held on the Tea Garden with many of the guests getting involved throughout the morning, although it was cold the mulled wine and mince pies kept them warm and was very much appreciated. A big “well done” goes to Stuart (our fantastic porter) who looked after our guests fantastically well – However, I am still trying to work out how Stuart is going to be able to arrange the first prize! A luxury trip on board the Titanic may be a little tricky Stuart!

Whilst Stuart was having fun with the guest on the Tea Garden I was in the warm enjoying the afternoon with the ladies making Christmas decorations in the Piano Room. Some amazingly colourful Christmas door wreaths and baubles were created at one point we liken the afternoon to the Generation Game! A lot of fun was had.

Next entry will be my New Year blog. With a full house and a Clairvoyant reading from 6:30 – 8:30pm anything could happen!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Another busy Christmas Eve dinner successfully completed!!

Well what an amazing evening, one of the best Christmas Eves we have had in a long time. St Fimbarrus Church Choir sang amazingly with all the guests mentioning that they were now well and truly in the Christmas Spirit. I would like to sincerely thank St Fimbarrus Church carol singers as they faithfully visit the hotel on Christmas Eve (and have done for many many years) and entertain our guests wonderfully, as the years have passed they have grown and grown in numbers and this evening there was 24 singers. I hope we can welcome them again next year, I’m thinking the sherry and mince pies are a successful incentive!!

Thankfully the dinner service ran smoothly this evening with 45 dinner guests; tomorrow we have 71 in for lunch. It will be interesting as 5 of those will be my family. Yes Mum, Dad, Emma, Scott and Louis, along with Scott’s mum and family will all be enjoying Christmas Lunch in the Piano Room. In total there will be 15 of them, it will be nice to have them around throughout the day.

This evening, some of the guests will be walking down to St Fimbarrus Church at 11pm for Holy Communion at 11:15pm, once I have collected the guests from the church (well those that do not wish to walk) they will enjoy toasted crumpets and Hot Chocolate before they head off to bed. A nice little surprise will await them all in the morning as Stuart (the hotels night porter) will be playing Santa this evening and hanging a stocking full of little goodies on the door of each room – well that’s if they have all been good boys and girls of course…..

Hotel Christmas Party was very Merry!

Well it all went extremely well last night, everyone seemed to have a fantastic time. As per usual The Falmouth hotel did a wonderful job with the meal with the service and staff being (as always) very professional. With a Goats Cheese and Pine nut Terrine, a delicious Smoked Haddock Tart for the fish course and Roasted Corn fed Chicken for the main course we certainly did not go hungry. Dessert was a delicious Lemon and Lime Cheesecake which finished off the meal perfectly. Many thanks to Greg and all his team for looking after us all again so well, everyone is talking about last nights party today so that is a very good sign that everything went according to plan.

There are a few sore heads this morning, but a lot of very funny photographs that apparently are already on face book!

Tonight The Fowey Hotel is hosting the Fowey Croquet Club annual Christmas party, some how I don’t think there will be quite so much drinking and merriment but hopefully a good evening will be had.

Tomorrow morning sees an early start for me as I head over to The Metropole to meet up with my colleagues for a meeting to discuss Budgets and Strategies for 2009!!! Yikes, plenty of coffee required for that one I think, that’s after the tasty full English Breakfast of course…. Me, food mad? Nooooo…..

Thank goodness for small blessings!

Yet another successful Christmas Market is complete within Fowey, that’s now the fourth one under our belts and thanks to the fantastic work of Alan Dibb and Belinda Raymond Fowey was a hive of industry over the first weekend of the month, what a team! Lady luck was very much smiling down on Fowey as the weather remained typically Christmassy, with blue skies, sunshine and just a nip of frost in the air the two days went very well indeed. Father Christmas came over on the tug and was then escorted through the main street of Fowey on a fantastic vintage tractor called Alice (actually an Aliss Chalmers 1958 orange tractor). Many thanks to Waley Dawson for allowing us the use of the tractor, Santa was really appreciative too!

Two traders within the town mentioned record sales for the Saturday and Sunday, beating even the busiest day in Regatta week!! I think we can safely say that The Fowey Christmas Market was a real success, after last years gales we were due some good luck.

This weekend see’s the staff Christmas Party which is traditionally held at The Falmouth Hotel. Most of the staff from The Fowey, Metropole and Idle Rocks are all having their annual get together, Greg has always organised a great bash with a lovely menu and great entertainment afterwards, I hope I wont have too many stories to tell on my next entry though (if you know what I mean)!!

Well it is less that two weeks until Christmas is here and the reception team are merrily writing Christmas cards and wrapping the Christmas present that will be placed in the guests room on Christmas Eve. Its set to be a really exciting time as we have organised a few little extra activities such as target golf on the Tea Garden and Christmas decoration making in the afternoon on Boxing day, if anyone is still thinking of somewhere to go for Christmas we do still have a few rooms left – but call quickly as they wont be around for long!! Merry Christmas!!!

Murder by Appointment at the Fowey Hotel!

The ‘Murder by Appointment’ team didn’t let the side down with their much-awaited return over the weekend.

Chris and his team put on another brilliant performance entitled “The Authoress” linked with the literary theme here in Fowey. The evening started with bubbly and canapés, the opening scene was also acted out in order to introduce the actors to the guests as well as to wet their appetite regarding the content of the evening. As always the team were brilliant receiving rave reviews from all of the guests. For those of you who are interested the murder took place in the hotels lift and the blood-curdling scream (once the body was discovered) resounded around the entire hotel! Thankfully all the guests were aware of what was happening and it caused quite a lot of excitement. All in all, a fantastic evening was had and the reviews that have been written over the weekend reiterate this. Next year a Bond Theme is planned, so remember to pack your Dinner Jacket and long evening dress… Unless you would prefer the Ursula Andress look, however it maybe a bit chilly this time of year!!

Myself and my colleagues from the other Cornish Hotel’s all met up last week to say a fond farewell to Jason Parry (or JP as we call him), General Manager of The Grand Hotel in Torquay. After a few canapés and a glass or two of champers we took him down to the popular seafood bistro Sam’s here in Fowey. As always great music, fabulous food and friendly service helped to make the evening go with a real swing. Later we met up with Mark (Fowey - Head Chef) and Amanda (his wife and ex GM from The Idle Rocks) for a few drinks and a catch up, it was a great evening and a fitting way to bid farewell and good luck to a great colleague and friend. JP leaves the Grand Hotel to take the position of General Manager at The Grosvenor in Torbay - Good luck JP!

I have just taken a look at the weather forecast for this region for the weekend, it is the Fowey Christmas Market on Saturday and Sunday and at the moment the wind looks to be picking up on Thursday and Friday!! Just when we are needing to set the Marquees up, oh well we are all holding our breath and hoping that (if needed) the contingency plan will work. This being over at Beryl’s Yard Car park, which is a lot more sheltered from the elements – keep your fingers crossed for us, I think we are going to need all the luck we can get!!